YOU ARE REMARKABLE

you have enough energy in your body to light up a city.

all i ask is one thing, & i’m asking this particularly of young people that watch: please do not be cynical. i hate cynicism. for the record, it’s my least favorite quality, it doesn’t lead anywhere. nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. but if you work really hard & you’re kind, amazing things will happen. i’m telling you: amazing things will happen. i’m telling you, it’s just true.
-conan o’brien.

what if you could buy self confidence in a jar. take twice a day, with a full glass of tea; do not take on an empty stomach. now this would not be self confidence in the form of mood elevating drugs or weight loss supplements. more of a jar, you could open up & it whispers beautiful things to you. confidence is such an alluring quality in creatures & really, everyone should feel confident. you’re alive, that makes you beautiful. everyone is beautiful. slight things make you beautiful. that speck of gold on your otherwise green eyes, that freckle the shape of maine, the gap in your teeth, the fullness of your body. everyone is beautiful. if this is true, why is it so impossible to feel sometimes? we sink our skin into bathtubs of luke warm water searching for our flaws. the superficial reason he/she might not fall in love with you. we don’t look within towards the passion in our blood- the things people will actually fall in love with. looks fade & anyone can fall in lust with a look. it’s trite but true that in the long run that is not what you want in a mate. you want someone who intrigues you, makes you a better person, someone who compliments your very existence. if self confidence could be purchased in a jar it might say your heart beats like a rabbit & you glow when you smile. it might say the way your brain works is extraordinary, you notice things everyone else is too busy to see. it might just whisper you’re breathing, you…are…alive.

coreena lewis is a gem. she is a beautiful, confident, empowered young lady who will make you feel beautiful.  she helps run a tumblr group called fuckyeahchubbygirls embracing bodies & helping so many girls feel beautiful in their own skin. coreena is also a wonderful artist & you can see & purchase some of her lovely things here. we are thankful for ladies like this. read her personal tumblr or look at some of her wonderful photos.

Who is the most remarkable person you know personally, and why do you think so? I can say with complete confidence, my mom. She is the funniest, most supportive person on this planet. Not just with me, or my sister, with everyone. Even when the plans you have seem like the most irresponsible, least tangible things possible, my mom will fully support you. This seems like the opposite of remarkable, but when your mom hands you a bottle of her greatest rum, helps you load your bed into your friend’s mini van and says “good luck” when you’re moving four hours away with $100 to your name, you know that she’s something special. She never doubts me.

Where does love hide? I think love hides everywhere, behind each grumpy old man or stressed out boss, there’s love. Maybe not for you, but for someone, or something. I try and remember this on a daily basis cause it’s a lot easier to be negative than positive, I think people generally really forget that about themselves and life.

When was the last time everything felt perfect? In general, I don’t really believe that perfection exists in anything, and that’s what makes life really that much more interesting. I feel my best when my life is moving and I’m experiencing new things. I think some of my personal flaws are what makes me keep moving and yearning for bigger and better things.

When you think of the word ‘beautiful,’ what’s the first thing to come to mind? I’m not sure if it’s the photographer in me, but it’s always about the simple things in life. Like, a rain fall during the sunniest day of the year, or waking up beside someone you love, or the palest girl on the beach. I love things that stand out on their own.

What is your favorite thing to do to keep warm on a cold day? Baths! I love baths more than I love most things in this world. I am sort of a water baby and I feel most comfortable when I’m around it. I am a west coast girl through and through. So yeah, a bath and a good book/comic.

What do you think would be the sound of you making magic? Definitely not me singing. I think it would sound sort of like a sprinkler, but louder, and with more Tetris noises.

What inspires you? I am lucky enough to be surrounded by all sorts of amazing influences. My friends are very interesting people with very interesting jobs/hobbies. A lot of them are photographers, artists etc. So, I end up getting a lot of great ideas through collaborating and exchanging ideas with them.

Why did you start your tumblr group? I didn’t actually start the FYCG site, in fact at first the girl who did start it, Amy, followed my personal blog and would reblog the pictures from my ‘365′ project I would post. She got busy and was looking for help and I stepped up. I love the site, it also is a great inspiration. The girls on it are constantly giving me their thanks and appreciation, which in return just gives that much more confidence.

What makes you feel confident? Other than running a blog that features ladies with full figures who are proud of it (in turn making me feel proud) putting on red lipstick, a good dress and parading around WHEREVER with my camera. I feel most confident with a camera in my hand. That or a pencil. It’s just second nature to me.

What is your favourite smell? This one is sort of weird, and I always laugh too much when I try to explain it, so it’s a good thing I’m typing. My grandparents use to own property on a lake and I use to spend every summer there with them. They owned this shed and it’s where they stored all the fun stuff (row boat paddles, tubes, buckets, water goggles…) my favorite smell is the first week of the summer going back there and opening up that shed. I don’t know why, it just smells like summer to me. Stale summer, but summer nonetheless.

Can you define the word “remarkable”? The first thing that comes to mind when I think of something being ‘remarkable’ is something unique and unusual. Like something happening by coincidence, or by chance. Some of the most remarkable things I’ve come across are due to being impulsive or whimsical.

your body doesn’t deserve what you do to it. you have a good body, a strong body, it doesn’t deserve this. you don’t deserve to hurt. your skin, this skin, it’s pale colour glows in the light. the constellations that freckle your shoulders. the flush in your cheek when, when, when. you don’t deserve to hurt. you say but the outside must match the inside. that means you can’t harm it. if it must match your inside we must keep it beautiful, strong, unharmed. we’ll keep you beautiful, strong, unharmed.

zachary schomburg has a way with words. he twists them into extraordinary things. he takes old words & makes them new. have you heard of him? no, no, no? well you must do yourself a favour & purchase one of his books. your heart will swell, your heart will burst, your heart won’t know what to do. his book the man suit is a personal favourite which has been purchased & gifted several times. it’s a book you truly must own. you can learn more about zachary here & purchase his books. go go go! he’s an inspiration to our writing so let us pick his heart & find out what makes him tick.

Who is the most remarkable person you know personally, and why do you think so?
Emily Kendal Frey. She has a strange capacity for poetry, a brain that moves like a kite. And her entire body is filled with her heart. Her heart is like a cream filling. She wrote Airport, which you can read as an e-book here , and has about ten other manuscripts that will be great books in this next decade. You heard me.
Where does love hide?
Love hides in a closet. A real closet–not a metaphorical one. It’s a closet somewhere, maybe in Canada or some place like that. It’s underneath a pile of sweatshirts and some trophies. The house has been demolished so we just have to imagine it. We all just have to do our best recreating it.
When was the last time everything felt perfect?
Things feel perfect in small exact moments. These are moments that last a few seconds, when I recognize the perfection, often while reading or writing, or during sexual intercourse, or painting and listening to music, maybe sharing a beer. So, not too long ago.
When you think of the word ‘beautiful,’ what’s the first thing to come to mind?
Giraffe.
What is your favorite thing to do to keep warm on a cold day?
I love taking showers. It’s like my favorite thing. I’d shower, and probably wouldn’t even bother with soaping myself.
What do you think would be the sound of you making magic?
A flapping cape? Or the sound of peeling off wet tree bark maybe.
What inspires you?
Oh man. That’s hard to pinpoint. There’s not much that doesn’t. Malls don’t. I know that. Malls suck.
What is your favourite smell?
I kind of like the smell of feet. Or maybe, more generally, I could say I love the smell of bodies. Bodies.
Can you define the word “remarkable”?
Yeah, pretty easily.